Improvements to electronic displays now allow them to be used in outdoor environments for informational, advertising, or entertainment purposes. While displays of the past were primarily designed for operation near room temperature, it is now desirable to have displays which are capable of withstanding large surrounding environmental temperature variations. For example, some displays are capable of operating at temperatures as low as −22F and as high as 113 F or higher. When surrounding temperatures rise, the cooling of the internal display components can become even more difficult.
Additionally, modern displays have become extremely bright, with some backlights producing 1,000-2,000 nits or more. Sometimes, these illumination levels are necessary because the display is being used outdoors, or in other relatively bright areas where the display illumination must compete with other ambient light. In order to produce this level of brightness, illumination devices and electronic displays may produce a relatively large amount of heat.
Still further, in some situations radiative heat transfer from the sun through a front display surface can also become a source of heat. In some locations 800-1400 Watts/m2 or more through such a front display surface is common. Furthermore, the market is demanding larger screen sizes for displays. With increased electronic display screen size and corresponding front display surfaces, more heat will be generated and more heat will be transmitted into the displays.
Exemplary modern displays have found some effective means for cooling the displays including circulating a closed loop of gas around the display and drawing ambient gas through the display so that the closed loop of gas may be cooled (as well as portions of the electronic display). Various thermal communications have been discovered which can transfer heat away from the sensitive electronic components and out of the display. Heat exchangers were found to produce an excellent means for transferring heat between the closed loop of gas and the ambient gas. However, previous designs for moving the gas through the display have been found to generate an undesirable amount of noise emission from the display as well as thermal gradients where portions of the display were cooled but others remained warm.
When using LCD displays, it was found that backlights were often a source of heat and it was desirable to move gas across the rear surface of the backlight in order to cool it. While desirable, it was thought that the front surface of the backlight could not be cooled for fear that the backlight cavity would become contaminated with dust, dirt, or other particulate.